France opens inquiry over police brutality against migrants

French police say have launched an inquiry into police brutality after an activist group released a video showing officers beating migrants in the northern port city of Calais.

France’s national police said in a statement on Tuesday that “the exact circumstances of this intervention will be rapidly examined… and any failure to apply the ethical rules will be punished.”

Local humanitarian migrant aid association Calais Migrant Solidarity posted the two-minute video online on Sunday. It shows CRS riot forces kicking and pulling migrants in order to prevent them from boarding on trucks headed for Britain via ferry. The riot control forces also used teargas on the refugees.  

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Jean-Pierre Valensi of Boulogne-sur-Mer in the northern department of Pas-de-Calais told AFP that if the brutal acts are proven, they are “liable to be classed as criminal.”

According to the group, the disturbing footage was filmed on May 5, a day after French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visited the city to ask refugees to seek asylum in France.

"We must make them understand clearly that asylum in France offers the best chance for them,” Cazeneuve said following his visit.

The group says the migrants, living in temporary shelters without both water and toilets on the outskirts of the city, experience such brutality every day.

On January 20, international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the French government to end police abuse of asylum seekers and migrants residing in Calais.

Having interviewed over 40 asylum seekers and migrants in Calais, the rights group said in a statement that migrants in Calais report routine cases of police abuse, including beatings and attacks with pepper spray.

Thanks to its sea and rail links to Britain, Calais is a gathering hub for hundreds of illegal migrants who want to reach UK aboard trucks that leave the French port for Britain on a daily basis.

According to Pas-de-Calais police, more than 300 migrants -- twice as much as the average of 150 a day -- arrived on Tuesday on roads leading to the Channel tunnel.

More than 2,300 refugees, mostly from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia reportedly live in the outskirts of Calais in either makeshift camps or in the city’s streets.

According to an investigation conducted by the British daily The Guardian, at least 15 migrants, including young women and teenagers, lost their lives in and around Calais in 2014.

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